The present invention relates to an information processing system which includes a user information management device for managing information about an individual user and enables information to be processed along the user's attributes.
FIG. 1 represents the structure of a conventional information processor. A user interface device 11 converts a user's operation into a message representing what a task execution device 12 is called upon to do and sends it to the task execution device 12. On receiving the message sent from the user interface device 11, the task execution device 12 processes the information to achieve the request represented by the message and in turn sends the consequence of processing back to the user interface device 11 as a message. A user information management device 13 stores information about the user which, for instance, consists of the user's preferences, interests and other attributes. The user interface and task execution devices 11 and 12 access the user information managed by the user information management device 13, as desired, for processing the information along the user's attributes. The user interface and task execution devices 11 and 12 update the user information managed by the user information management device 13, when needed.
In the conventional information processor, the user interface and task execution devices 11 and 12, the user interface and user information management devices 11 and 13, and the task execution and user information management devices 12 and 13 are respectively connected directly to each other.
In other words, the contents of communications exchanged between the user interface and the task execution devices 11 and 12 cannot be known from the user information management device 13. The procedures for accessing and updating the information about the user are independently encoded in the task execution and user interface devices 12 and 11, respectively.
A problem involved with this conventional information processor is that when some partial modifications are made to the user interface 11 or task execution device 12 so that some useful information about the user is added to the contents of communications between the user interface and user information management devices 11 and 13, the overall system construction should be modified so as to let the user information management device 13 acquire that information.